Roundup: Arizona Governor Restricts Abortions

Jul 14, 2009, 11:00am

Amy Dempsey

Arizona Governor Restricts Abortions; At Sotomayor Hearing, Feinstein Explains Casey Case; U.S. Hispanics on Abortion, Shift Between Generations

Arizona Governor Restricts Abortions
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer
signed a bill Monday that restricts access to abortion for many women.
The bill will implement a mandatory 24-hour waiting period before a
woman can get an abortion after she visits an abortion provider, who
will be required to notify a woman of her fetus’s probable
characteristics, risks of the procedure and abortion alternatives,
according to The Associated Press.

The
existing law for under-aged teenagers wanting to get an abortion will
also become stricter, and pharmacists and health care providers can
also refuse to give out emergency contraceptives for religious or moral
reasons, said the AP.

At Sotomayor Hearing, Feinstein Explains Casey Case
At
Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing Monday, California Sen. Diane
Feinstein, who supports Sotomayor, said what nominees say during the
hearings do not accurately predict how they will judge, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Referring to past nominees who said Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood
of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Casey "were precedents of the court
entitled to great respect," Feinstein said those same justices "voted
to overturn the key holding in Casey that laws restricting a
woman’s medical care must contain an exception to protect her health,"
the article said.

According to the article, Feinstein said:

"I’ve found it increasingly difficult to know, from answers to
questions we ask from this dais, how a nominee will actually act as a
Supreme Court justice, because answers here are often indirect and
increasingly couched in euphemistic phrases."

The
1992 Casey case revolved around laws that required a married woman who
wanted to get an abortion to let her husband know, and also required
parental consent for under-aged girls. The spousal notification
requirement was not upheld, but the parental consent law was, the Los Angeles Times reported.

U.S. Hispanics on Abortion, Shift Between Generations
A Reuters
article said Hispanics make up approximately 15 percent of the U.S.
population, and 22 percent of the 1.2 abortions in the United States in
2005, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Although Hispanics mostly
identify with the Roman Catholic Church, there has been a generational
shift among second-generation Latinos’ view of abortions.

Polls by
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health have shown more
tolerance toward the divisive issue.

The article
also referred a survey taken in California by the Public Policy
Institute of California which found yet another change across
generations. It said immigrant Latinos and U.S. born Latinos differed
in their views, with 62 percent of immigrant Latinos supporting more
abortion restrictions, and 65 percent of U.S. born Latinos think the
government should not implement more restrictions.

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE:

July 14: Washington Times:GOP aims to block federal funds for abortions

July 13: Examiner:Pharmacists must dispense morning after pill

July 13: NewsChannel 10: ProLife Midland Reacts to Planned Parenthood’s Sex Education

July 14: WSJ: The Catholic Double Standard

July 14: LA Times:Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a question of eugenics

July 13: ThinkProgress: Republicans Use Abortion To Try To Derail Health Reform

July 13: AP: Arizona governor approves abortion constraints

July 13: Medical News: IRIN examines ‘dramatic plunge’ in family planning international donor funding

July 14: National Law Journal: Bayer Sued Over Safety of Popular Birth Control Pills

July 13: Reuters:Generational shift for U.S. Hispanics on abortion

July 10: Global Health Council: Global: Falling Family Planning Funding Threatens Poverty Fight